Members

Alexandra Karousou

Alexandra Karousou is Associate Professor of Cognitive and Language Development in Early Childhood at the Department of Early Childhood Education and Care, University of West Attica.

She has taught for more than 20 years in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Greece and abroad, including at the Complutense University of Madrid, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and the Democritus University of Thrace.
She received her PhD in 2003 from the Department of Cognitive Processes, Faculty of Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, focusing on early communicative and language development in infants and toddlers. She also completed postgraduate studies in language disorders and language intervention at the same department in 1999.
Her research interests focus on communicative, language, and cognitive development during infancy, toddlerhood, and the preschool years; early screening and assessment; and the associations between young children's language and cognitive development and the social context within which they grow up.
She has participated as a researcher in more than 15 funded international and national research projects on young children's communicative, language, and cognitive development. She has authored more than 40 scientific publications and has presented her work in more than 100 communications at international and national scientific conferences.

ORCID: 0000-0001-7214-903X

Dimitra Economacou

Dimitra Economacou is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Early Childhood Education and Care, University of West Attica. Her postdoctoral research examines the socio-cognitive factors that influence the development of Theory of Mind in children aged 24–48 months, as well as the effect of these factors on children's broader social development.

She received her PhD in 2024 from the Department of Primary Education, Democritus University of Thrace, focusing on the cognitive development of preschool- and school-aged children. She also holds a master's degree in Clinical Neuropsychology from the University of Bordeaux and a degree in Psychology from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Her research interests focus on cognitive and language development from early childhood to school age, Theory of Mind, metacognition, executive functions, and the early screening and assessment of cognitive development. She has participated in nationally funded research projects, has published scientific papers in Greek and international journals, and has presented her work at Greek and international conferences.
During and after her doctoral studies, she has taught courses related to her field in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at public institutions (Democritus University of Thrace, ASPETE) and private educational organisations.
Alongside her academic and research activity, she has training and experience in clinical and psychodiagnostic assessment, with an emphasis on neuropsychological approaches and the use of standardized assessment tools for children and adolescents.

ORCID: 0000-0001-8781-7969

Eleftheria Magiasi

Eleftheria Magiasi is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Early Childhood Education and Care, University of West Attica. Her doctoral research examines the relationship between language development and executive functions in typically developing children and in children on the autism spectrum.

She is a graduate of the Department of Speech and Language Therapy of the Technological Educational Institute of Patras. She holds a master's degree in Speech and Language Difficulties from the University of Sheffield, as well as a master's degree from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Thessaly, specializing in Cognitive Neurorehabilitation. In addition, she has completed the annual Pedagogical Training Programme (EPPAIK) of ASPETE.
She has extensive training in contemporary therapeutic approaches for children with speech, language, and communication disorders. She has been trained in the TEACCH and SCERTS models, Social Stories, the PECS alternative communication system, the MAKATON programme, Oral Placement Therapy (OPT), and the SIMATA method for childhood apraxia of speech. She also has specialized training in the assessment and intervention of fluency disorders in children, including through the PCI Palin programme, and has been trained in addressing selective feeding difficulties.
She has completed the structured Cygnet parent and caregiver training programme for autism spectrum conditions, as well as training in Cognitive Behavioural Drama (CBD). She is also training as a parent consultant in Attachment Parenting and has been trained in the Watch Me Play approach, further strengthening her clinical approach to supporting the parent–child relationship, empowering caregivers, and promoting positive interaction through play.
Her clinical experience includes assessment and intervention with children with pervasive developmental disorders and speech/language disorders in school settings, special therapy centres, and KEDASY services, applying individualized therapeutic plans based on evidence-based practices.

Paraskevi Mantopoulou

Paraskevi Mantopoulou is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Early Childhood Education and Care, University of West Attica. Her doctoral research longitudinally examines mother–fetus interaction prenatally and mother–infant interaction postnatally, as well as the effect of the quality of these interactions on children's later communicative and language development.

She is a graduate of the Department of Midwifery of the University of Western Macedonia. She holds a Master's Degree in Educational Sciences: Teacher Education in Innovative Approaches to Teaching and Learning from the same university, as well as a Master's Degree in Advanced and Evidence-Based Midwifery Care, specializing in Primary Midwifery Care, from the University of West Attica. As part of her master's thesis, she conducted a systematic review of the literature on obstetric violence.
Her research interests concern developmental psychology in infancy and early childhood, with an emphasis on the study of the relationship and interaction within the mother–infant dyad. She has clinical experience in prenatal counselling, breastfeeding counselling, midwifery and gynaecological care, and support for women and families during the perinatal period. She also has teaching experience in secondary and post-secondary education.
She actively participates in voluntary activities as a midwife and breastfeeding counsellor at the charitable association “I Agkalia”, as well as in activities of the non-profit organisation “Asterodeia”, focusing on supporting women and preventing and addressing domestic violence.